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Innovation

Innovation and Collaboration Tour (ICT)

The ICT was a multi-year state-wide initiative involving six tour stops in designated regions of the State.

Through the ICT, ILCHF sought out innovative and collaborative approaches to address the healthcare needs of children. ILCHF partnered with local funders and/or providers to host regional meetings throughout the state. The goals of the meeting were to increase the collective understanding of the local and regional healthcare assets and needs of children, and to introduce the ICT funding opportunity for grants ranging from $10,000-$100,000 to respond to identified needs in each of these regions.

The Foundation identified projects that innovatively addressed or improved children’s health, enhanced collaboration, and/or leveraged additional resources. Preference was given to projects that were sustainable and replicable. In alignment with the Foundation’s standard grant making guidelines, the Foundation’s funding priority with this initiative was to provide seed money for new ideas or mid-stage funding that would bring great ideas to fruition and/or improve existing programs/services.

The Food as Medicine Program is an incredibly valuable tool to help us become more involved in some of the things that affect the health of our patients that we aren’t traditionally educated about in Med School.
— – Dr. Simone Hampton, Staff Physician, Promise Healthcare

2015 Tour Stops

East Central Illinois

Partners: Community Foundation of Central Illinois, SmileHealthy, and United Way of Champaign County

Southern Illinois

Partner: Southern Illinois Community Foundation

Northern Illinois

Partners: Crusader Clinic and the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois

The 2016 Tour

The 2016 tour resulted in $600,000 funding for projects such as Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association (GLASA) to expand its Linking Clinical Care Providers & Patients to Health Promotions Initiatives (LCCP) to create connections among patients/parents and medical professionals in order for children with disabilities to be educated and engaged in health promotion programs to improve health outcomes and reduce the need for clinical care.

2016 Tour Stops

Southwest Central

Partner: Community Foundation of the Land of Lincoln

Northwest Central

Partners: Community Foundation of Central Illinois and the Starved Rock Country Community Foundation

Collar Counties, including suburban Cook County

Project Eligibility

ILCHF was interested in funding innovative and collaborative projects which work toward building resilience and improving the health of children and families. Resilience involves the ability to navigate through serious challenges and find ways to bounce back and thrive. Resilience is a characteristic and skill that can be developed in children and families and contributes to positive overall health.

Many types of community providers contribute to the development of resilience and improved health in children and families. This may include: schools; libraries; medical providers; oral health providers; mental health providers; public recreation programs; sports, arts and other hobby programs; literacy and language programs and others.

Preference was given to projects that were sustainable and replicable. In alignment with the Foundation’s standard grant making guidelines, our funding priority was to provide seed money for new ideas or mid-stage funding that would bring great ideas to fruition and/or improve existing programs/services.